Tillingham

Style

Trend-setting terroir

Setting

Vine and country

Tillingham’s regenerative Sussex estate is shaking up England's wine scene like a bottle of its biodynamic fizz. Set among the rolling green hills of rural Rye, this modish estate comprises vineyards, woodland, and a renovated farmstead with 11 McCully and Crane-designed rooms. Here, guests can round-off days spent sipping on estate-made rosé, sharing wood-fired pizzas alfresco, or tasting their way through the region’s finest produce upstairs in the award-winning restaurant.

Facilities

Rooms

Checkout

11am, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 3pm.

More Details

Rates include a farmhouse breakfast of coffee or tea, fruit juice, sourdough bread, butter, jam, granola, yoghurt, cheese and charcuterie. Hot dishes and barista-style coffees are available for an additional charge.

Also

There is one ground floor room suitable for guests with limited mobility. Please contact Smith’s travel team to book.

Pet Friendly

On-Site Restaurant

At the Hotel

Vineyards, farm and walled garden; on-site boutique; Wellington boots and umbrellas to borrow, free WiFi. In rooms: Roberts radio, free bottled water and Fill and Haeckel's bath products.

Our Favourite Rooms

Set in a former hop barn, each of Tillingham’s 11 rooms have been meticulously fashioned by Rye-based art and interiors studio McCully and Crane. Most have views of the vineyards and surrounding woodland, but for a little extra space – and a freestanding bath tub – you can’t go wrong with the Feature Double Room, which comes with its own private terrace, fire pit, and endless views over the Tillingham valley.

Spa

There’s no spa, but in-room treatments with local masseuse and reflexologist can be booked on request.

Packing Tips

Wellies and umbrellas are provided for the wetter months, so all you need to do is save enough suitcase space for a few bottles of the good stuff…

Children

Over 12s are welcome. Children under the age of 16 must share a room with an adult, and roll out beds can be provided – upon request – in Large and Feature rooms.

Gallery

Food & Drink

Top Table

Nab a pew next to the kitchen to see Tillingham’s chef’s slice and dice their way through the evening.

Dress Code

In-keeping with Tillingham’s back-to-the-land ethos, ditch the fast fashion for more sustainable sartorial choices.

Hotel Restaurant

At the hotel's Green Michelin star restaurant, the menu showcases fresh produce from the estate’s walled garden and surrounding farms, meat reared on Tillingham land and fish caught daily at Rye Harbour. Tuck into dishes like lion’s mane schnitzel and black garlic; monkfish, rainbow chard and roe; or savoy cabbage and alliums – so handsomely presented that they rival the rolling views of the vineyard outside. A three- or five-course lunch is served on Fridays and Saturdays, and Sunday is all about roast dinners done the Tillingham way with local Morebread farm lamb, Sutton Hoo chicken, whole-day boat fish or roasted squash. For the full experience, opt for the wine pairing and have their in-house Sommelier talk you through each glass. Or, for something more casual, the estate’s converted Dutch barn serves wood-fired pizza. It’s a charming spot during the summer months, with festoon lights hanging from the industrial pergola as chickens cluck around at your feet.

Hotel Bar

Styled by Karen Davenport, the bar’s industrial interiors combine white brick walls with rustic and vintage details – tables fashioned from untouched wood, warm hanging lights, patterned cushions and vases full of foraged and hand-picked flowers from the farm. Here, you can work your way through the estate’s roster of biodynamic wines – from peculiarly pink pinot noirs to their crowd-pleasing col fondo – accompanied by seasonal small plates and bar snacks. And when you’re all grape-d out, their menu of inventive cocktails, homemade cider and delicious soft options make for equally interesting stand-ins.

Last Orders

Breakfast runs from 8.30am to 10.30am, lunch from noon till 2pm (Friday and Saturday only), and dinner from 6pm and 8pm daily. Tillingham’s bar pours from noon till 11pm.

Planes

London’s Gatwick Airport is closest, just over an hour away by car.

Trains

The nearest train station is Rye, a 10-minute drive from the estate. From here, you can be at London St Pancras (via Ashford) in around one hour ten minutes. Transfers can be arranged for £15 each way.

Automobiles

Tillingham is a 10-minute drive from Rye. Free parking is available at the hotel.

Worth Getting Out of Bed For

Wine tours and tastings run daily, at a cost of £35 a person, and includes four glasses of the estate’s biodynamic wine, a guided look around the vineyard and insight into the ancient methods Tillingham employs in its winemaking. Guests can easily spend an hour or two peeking around the hotel’s walled garden, where the kitchen grows the majority of their herbs and vegetables. There are weekly yoga sessions to join (or one-to-one sessions, which can be booked with advance notice) and a host of other estate-based events that run throughout the year, from foraging and wellness days to craft courses and seminars. Outside of the estate, the ancient citadel of Rye sits 10 minutes to the south, with a picturesque marina, romantic cobblestone streets, mediaeval half-timbered houses, crafty boutiques and stay-all-day cafès. Keep an eye out (and your Kodak ready) for Mermaid Street, a historic walkway lined with charming, ivy-strewn houses with a rep as the most photographed spot in the city. For the hiking-inclined, there's a 90-minute walk from Tillingham to Rye along a public footpath through the valley. A little further south, Camber Sands is suitable for swimming, watersports, kitesurfing – and on sunnier days – picnics, although locals like to go to Pett level beach, which is more rugged but much quieter, even in the peak of summer.

Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt

This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .